Walter Munk Papers, 1908-2007

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Summary

Creators:
Munk, Walter H. (Walter Heinrich), 1917-2019
Abstract:
Papers of Walter H. Munk (1917-2019), distinguished physical oceanographer and professor of geophysics at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. The collection documents Munk's scientific career and some of the subject areas where he was an influential theorist, including wave forecasting and acoustic tomography.
Extent:
32.4 Linear feet (77 archives boxes, 1 flat box, and 2 map case folders)
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

Walter Munk Papers, SMC 17. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Library.

Background

Scope and content:

Papers of Walter H. Munk (1917-2019), distinguished physical oceanographer and professor of geophysics at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. The collection documents Munk's scientific career and some of the subject areas where he was an influential theorist, including wave forecasting and acoustic tomography. It includes: correspondence; an incomplete assortment of Munk's writings and lectures; collaborative research with Harald Sverdrup and the U.S. Navy on wave forecasting during World War II, including drafts of reports and photographic prints of waves and coastlines; Munk's files from government consulting (JASON and the National Research Council); and Munk's papers on UC San Diego, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP).

The bulk of the collection was donated to the Library in 1987, a few years after Munk's retirement from the University in 1982. Although he stayed professionally active until his death in 2019, only one additional group of papers were donated in 1996, along with several small accruals of audiovisual recordings, photographs and slides. There are gaps in subject documentation, and parts of the collection are not comprehensive. For example, there is relatively little material, particularly correspondence, research files, or photographic portraits, documenting Munk's first three decades at SIO from 1939 through 1969.

Arranged in thirteen series: 1) BIOGRAPHICAL, 2) CORRESPONDENCE, 3) WAVE FORECASTING, 4) WRITINGS AND TALKS, 5) EVENTS, CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS, 6) NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL, 7) ACOUSTIC TOMOGRAPHY, 8) SUBJECT/RESEARCH FILES, 9) UC SAN DIEGO, 10) IGPP, 11) WORKS BY OTHERS, 12) PHOTOGRAPHS, and 13) AUDIOVISUAL RECORDINGS.

Biographical / historical:

Two short, excellent biographies of Walter Munk are available online:

UC San Diego obituary

Biographical essay by Deborah Day, former SIO Archivist.

Acquisition information:
Acquired 1981-1982, 1987-1994, 2007, 2009, 2022.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS.

Original media formats in Series 13) AUDIOVISUAL RECORDINGS are restricted. Viewing/listening copies may be available for researchers.

Terms of access:

Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.

Preferred citation:

Walter Munk Papers, SMC 17. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Library.

Location of this collection:
9500 Gilman Drive, Dept. 0175
La Jolla, CA 92093-0175, US
Contact:
(858) 534-2533
spcoll@ucsd.edu
Website